VU Research Portal The Amsterdam metropolitan housing market: how a prosperous metropolitan area coexists with a central city dominated by social rental housing for the poor van der Vlist, A.; Rietveld, P. 2002 document version Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of record Link to publication in VU Research Portal citation for published version (APA) van der Vlist, A., & Rietveld, P. (2002). The Amsterdam metropolitan housing market: how a prosperous metropolitan area coexists with a central city dominated by social rental housing for the poor. (Research Memorandum; No. 2002-36). Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. 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Oct. 2021 The Amsterdam Metropolitan Housing yI_ Market Research Memorandum 2002-36 <. ‘. ,., Faculty of Economics and Business Administration The Amsterdam Metropolitan Housing Market Research Memorandum 2002-36 Arno van der Wist Piet Rietveld vrije Universiteit . t The Amsterdam Metropolitan Housing Market; How a pros erous metropolitan area coexisPs with a centra1 ci dominated by social rental housing7or the poor Amo van der Vlist and Piet Rietveld Department of Economics Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam De Boelelaan 1105 108 1 HV Amsterdam The Netherlands [email protected] Abstract In this Chapter we describe the development of Amsterdam Metropolitsn Housing Market over the years. We start-off with a discussion of the historica1 development of Amsterdam and its suburban areas. There we address how main contextual factors like wars, tïnancial crises and prosperity have shaped the housing market. Having brietly described the historica1 development, we then turn to the development in size, structure snd composition of the housing stock as wel1 as in size and composition of tbe population. Here, we also discuss the impact of physical planning policy. It turns out tbat particularly the post-WW 11 reconstntction policy has affected the urban fortn, structure and housing stock of the housing market. Subsequently, we address issues related to housing demand, paying also ancntion to rent regulation, tenure, and housing allocation. In our discussion we pay attention to the spatial differences behveen neighborhoods within Amsterdam, and between Amsterdam and its surrounding suburban areas. One of the peculiarities of Amsterdam Metropolitan Housing Market turns out to be the large social rental mark&. In sotne large neighborhoods in tbe city of Amsterdam the share of social housing is above 75%. Although new (re)construction led to increased bomeownership the owner-occupier market is stil1 relatively small. The large social rental market in the city of Amsterdam coincides with a relatively low average disposable household income, and a relative large share of households receiving rent assistance. Most households who live in Amsterdam Metropolitan Area also werk there, with Amsterdam being the most important employment center of Amsterdam Metropolitan Area. Contents 1. Introduction 2. The History of Amsterdam Metropolitan Housing Market 2.1 Amsterdam 2.2 Amsterdam Metropolitan Housing Market 3. Urban Sttucture, Housing Stock and Population Developments 3.1 Urban Sprawl, Compact City Design and Urban Planning 3.2 Housing Stock and Population Facts 4. Housing Demand, Housing Careers and Housing Allocation 4.1 Rent Regulation and Rent Allowance 4.2 Housing Allocation and tbe Role of Public Housing Associations 4.3 Residential Mobility 5. Future Prospects in Amsterdam Metropolitan Housing Market References 1. Introduction Most Eumpean countries have experienced a fundamental change in the residential function of metropolitan areas. Til1 the beginning of the 19” cenhxy the st~chuc of cities was organized around their centers where the residence was typically located close to the place of werk. The intmduction of fast and affordable transportation enornmusly expanded the area of possible residentiai .locations around a job location. In the meantime, changes in the shuch~re of the economy from handcrafi manufacturing toward largc-scale manufachuing and services altered the stmcture downtown. From an early outset, the development of cities and the fùnctioning of its housing market has been intimately related to long nm economie developments. This chapter aims to describe Amsterdam Metropolitan Housing Market. More specitïcally, it aims to relate the functioning of the housing market to these (long run) contextual factors, describing its past developments and possible course in the fuhtre. The outline of this Chapter is as follows. In Section 2 we give a historica1 overview of Amsterdam and its metropolitan housing marke% Based on this, we consider in Section 3 the development of the urban strwture in relation to developments in housing stock and population. Here, the influence of the planning system on urban sprawl and housing market developments is described. Hottsing demand, housing careers and housing allocation-issues are subsequently addressed in Section 4. In Section 5 we conclude with a discussion of fuhue prospects for Amsterdam Metropolitan Housing Mark& 2. History of Amsterdam Going back into the history of Amsterdam ene observes a city in which tummil time periods are altemated with relatively quiet time periods. The associated evolution of the housing stock cannot be fully understood without refering to these economie, social and instihttional changes that mok place dwing these periods. In tis section we give a overview of the development of Amsterdam and of the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area (AMA). 2.1 Amsterdam The history of Amsterdam goes back to the 12” cenhxy, around the time period at which a dam in the river Amstel was constmcted where people settled. From an early phase Amsterdam% inhahitants specialised in trade and tïnance. The import-tax on beer from Hamburg around 1320 made Amsterdam a prc~sperous city, with Amsterdam becoming ene of the main wade centers and tïnancial markets of Europe for the 16’ - 18” century. The economie hausse in the late 16” cenhuy resulted, due to the politica1 instability in other pats of Europe, in a large inflow of immigrants who settled in downtown Amsterdam. During the Golden Age the population rose fmm 30,000 inhabitants in 1578 to 206,000 inbabitants in 1675. Figure 1 shows the population dynamics of Amsterdam. This sharp increase in population led to the tïrst lage suburb of Amsterdam, resulting in the canal-area to thc west of Amsterdam that stil1 exists today. Dwing the Golden Age an almost continuous expansion took place around the inner city of Amsterdam; sometimes considered as ene of the first metropolitan area of the world. The wars with England in 1652 -1654 and 1665-1667 and afterwards with France in 1672 marked the end of a prosperous period charactcrized by a sharp rise in the population and housing stock. 2 Popularion Development ofAm.sterdam. 1280-2000 The 1672.1795 period was less fmtunate, characterizcd by tïnancial crises, intemal politica1 tension and wars with France and England. This all made tbat Amsterdam becamc a stagnant city (see Figure 1) and lost its centra1 role on the world tmde market, entering a period with extreme poverty for large parts of the population. Thc 1795-1813 period is ene of economie downtum where ene observes a decrease in population; from 210,000 in 1795 to 180,000 in 1810. Yct, by 1800 Amsterdam was stil1 the fifih largest city in Europe (Dieleman and Musterd, 1992). Migration out of Amsterdam during these years resulted in B large number of vacant dwellings, hardly any new construction and a dramatic tiltering down of some neighborhond areas. The lgti cenhny is characterized by a general increase in economie activity. The industrialization in the late 19’ century changed the economie and spatial strwture of Amsterdam, scparating residential areas and werking areas. The resb’ucturing of the previously manufachaing-based urban labor market resulted in a decentmlization of employment nu longer located downtown. In the second part of the century, a process of urbanization also took place where people moved fiom rural to urban areas. This led to a rise in population and an increasing pressure on the housing market. The rise in population dwing 1815 - 1900 can be clearly wen in Figure 1. In consequente, thousands of new houw were built in the ‘19’ ccntury neighbnrhoods in these years. The uncontrolled urbanization, and the conshuction of many low-quality housing led govemment to introduce the National Housing Act (1901). This act, together with a general increase in economie activity has led to largc volumes of new construction dwing 1900-1945 ofa much higherquality than these built in the 19’ century. The pmvision of affordable social housing